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Re: Driving Pet peeves
And what about trucks pushing you of the higway, by changing lane into the
spot you are occupying - This has happened to me twice, and the first
time was only a week after I got my drivers license - fortunatly there was a
shoulder, I could escape onto.
Another one are people who speed up when you try to pass them.
I guess most problems in traffic are caused by
1. people who can't accept, that when driving you will get to your
destination in the most comfortable and fast way, if all the drivers
cooperate in keeping traffic flowing, instead of viewing it as a contest.
(weawers, tailgaters, passing-refusers etc.)
2. people who can't accept that buyond a certain point they are comitted
to going in a certain direction.
(people in the left lane suddenly realizing, that they have to exit 100
feet down the higway - and do it making unsafe lane changes all the way
instead of taking the next exit and doubling back, and people who are
surprised when the exit-only lane they have been driving in for the last 2
miles exits).
3. that many car drivers simply don't see smaller vehicles (a psycological
thing - the brain tends to ignore things, that aren't dangerous)
I bet most accidents involving bicycles and motorcycles are caused by this
effect. This is especially a problem in areas (Like her in Atlanta), where
there are very few bicycles in traffic to begin with, so drivers aren't
used to have to look out for them.
4. bad road design - at the shoulder of many roads, there is a drop of up to
a foot, forcing bikers to ride further away from it, than otherwise necesary.
Then there is an exit of I75, just north of the intersection with I285, where
it (the exit) merges wit an exit from I285, thus forcing traffic exiting
the two highways to cross - this often causes a huge traffic congestion.
I also once drove of an highway exit near Ossining(NY) - situation:
I was driwing at about 55 mph, the lane exits, the off-ramp curved sharply
immediatly after exiting the highway, no warning signs telling me of any
safe speed on the exit (would probably have been 25 mph or so), no lights,
no reflectors on the curve so it could bee seen from afar - result:
I learned what oversteering was, while I barely kept my Cougar on the road.
And all those right turn lanes allowing you to avoid going through the
intersection, are an invitation for an accident involving bicycles, since
they are then forced to cross in front of motor traffic.
5. DUI
Anybody who disagrees ?
--
-Carl Alex Friis Nielsen (cnielsen@cc.gatech.edu)
Love me - Take me as I think I am.
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